Harbor Associates and Roxborough Group Grab Pasadena Offices

A two-building office complex in Pasadena has sold to a new owner at a steep discount from its value less than a decade ago.

Harbor Associates and The Roxborough Group plunked down $120 million for the Pasadena Towers, Commercial Observer reported. The deal for 477,101 square feet of offices works out to about $252 per square foot. CBRE Investment Management acquired the property in 2016 for $256 million, or about $537 per square foot, per CO.

Pasadena Towers consists of two Class A office buildings at 55 South Lake Avenue and 800 East Colorado Boulevard linked by a courtyard. The property features tenant amenities including a 3,000-square-foot fitness center, a 2,000-square foot conference room and a seven-level parking garage. Asking rent is about $4.35 per square foot per month, according to CBRE.

The deal marks the largest-ever investment by Seal Beach-based Harbor Associates and is one of the largest office investments by square footage in Greater Los Angeles so far this year, according to CO. In the first half of the year, the L.A. metro area closed $1.4 billion in office sales; in the same period last year, L.A. registered just $287 million in office sales.

Also valued at far less, last month, the nine-story Pasadena Office Tower at 150 South Robles Avenue was reappraised at $23 million, marking a 59 percent decrease from its appraisal on the property a decade ago, The Real Deal previously reported.

Occupancy at the Pasadena Office Tower dropped from 93 percent in 2015 to 69 percent last year. The five largest leases, making up nearly 40 percent of the building, are set to expire at the end of 2027, including arrangements with the City of Pasadena and the California Department of Rehabilitation.

Office vacancy across Greater Los Angeles ticked up marginally to 24.4 percent last quarter, up from 24.1 percent in the same period last year, according to Colliers. The finance, legal and health care sectors led leasing activity as demand from technology, media and entertainment, once on top between 2021 and 2023, lagged behind. — Chris Malone Méndez